Consultation

Client Survey Analysis

March 8, 2005

Site Goals

The intended URL is www.preciousprimates.org, which is available at the time of this writing.

Art Vandalay and Timmy Frude have some common goals for the website. Both would like to see new visitors attracted to the zoo, possibly pulling some of them from the competitor zoos. Both also see the new website as a tool for dissemination of information to the wider public. They feel that their zoo is of the highest quality, but that fact is not well known, due to their small advertising budget. They feel that a website is a much more efficient use of the limited dollar amount they can put toward publicity, and that if the public knew about the wonderful special events planned throughout the year, Precious Primates Petting Zoo would become a favorite multi-trip family destination.

In addition to their common goals, Art would like to create a form that enables website visitors to register for the zoo’s mailing list. They are not interested at this time in doing email newsletters, but that may be something we can talk about in the future. Therefore, the form should contain a field for the visitor’s email address. Timmy would like to have an area of the website dedicated to showcasing the individual animals, and what is happening in their lives. This approach of making the animals more accessible and enabling viewers to get to “know” individual animals could go a long way toward visitor loyalty.

Our team’s goals for the site should be to keep it as technically simple as possible while still making it a fun, informative, and visually stimulating place to visit. Read more about that in the Design Issues and Tone sections.

Audience

Art and Timmy are somewhat biased, but they do know their business well. They believe that people of all ages and family situations are potential visitors to their zoo, and therefore also the website. They generally agree that the website should first target parents with young children (under the age of 12), followed by grandparents, then teenagers, and finally young adults. Because of differences in how these different audiences access the Internet, it will require several different means of publicizing the fact that the website exists.

Art perceives the technical capabilities of their primary audience (parents with young children) to be very up to date with their computer equipment, as well as using a high-speed internet connection. Timmy was unable to address this point, because although he recognizes the value of having a website, he does not use a computer very much himself. Art believes that the only group that may be more difficult to reach would be the grandparents.

Why will people visit the Precious Primates Petting Zoo website? Both men agree people will visit the site to sign up for their (snail mail) newsletter, but they place differing levels of importance on it. High on the list are the standard items: information on hours, admission prices, special event details and driving directions. It should be noted that the Special Events section of the website should be quickly accessible for people who decide at the last minute that they want to do something unique on a holiday. Timmy especially wants to make the Animal Happenings section outstanding enough to make people want to be regular visitors both to the website and the zoo.

When asked how they plan to publicize their new website, Art had more ideas than Timmy. Art plans to put the URL on the zoo’s sign; this is fine, but not many people just happen to be driving through Dundas. His other plans will generate both local and wider audience business. Local newspaper and radio ads they already run will now include the URL. For wider coverage, Art would like to be linked from the Fox Valley Area Chamber of Commerce website and both men would like aggressive search engine submissions. We may want to consider search engine sponsor options.

Redesign (Design) Issues

Since this is not a redesign, we will be addressing original design issues here. As previously mentioned, it is agreed that the site should be relatively free of “frills” such as audio, video, Flash, or huge images. Usability should be aimed for the lowest common denominator, which will be the older browsers being used by the grandparent group that does not know browsers can be updated, or whose equipment will not support updated browsers. The exception to this rule will be the Kid’s Page, which will possibly utilize a simple game. In this case, brighter colors will be employed, and anyone with an older browser can avoid the page entirely. PPPZ wants their website to load quickly and be simple and logical to navigate.

The tone of the website should reflect the personality of the zoo, which both men describe as low-keyed and casual, yet very professional in their approach toward the importance of the animals and their care. Timmy describes it as “the best-run small zoo in the Midwest”. For this reason, the basic color scheme should stay within the most vibrant earth tones to project dignity, so that the bright colors of nature, such as plumage on a bird or color on a baboon’s face come as a pleasant surprise. All text will be written in a friendly, conversational manner, with the purpose of welcoming and drawing the visitor into the intimate workings of the zoo and its inhabitants. This approach will hopefully serve to increase loyalty to the zoo.

Tone

We need to ensure that visitors perceive the high quality and unique features of this zoo, compared to all other zoos they could possibly visit. Each photo and accompanying text will convey the utmost respect for the animals, caretakers and volunteers associated with the zoo. The zoo’s message should be clear: they are providing a very important educational and ecological service, and take their responsibility very seriously. This brings up the issue of their current tag line, “Animals are our business. Our only business.” Even they feel, and we agree, that it needs revision in order to better convey their true message.

Scope

The main boundary we are up against is the time factor. It is early March, and the client would like this website functioning by early May, in time for their Mother’s Day special event, and so potential visitors can add the zoo to their vacation travel plans. This should be workable, given the low-tech design needs that we have outlined. The owners would like the site to initially consist of only five pages: Home, Special Events, Kid’s Page, Contact/Information, and Mailing List Form. From prior experience, we know we can expect that to expand by at least two pages as we get deeper into the project. For example, a Past Events archive might prove to be entertaining to visitors.

From a creative standpoint, with the exception of the Kid’s game, the website will simply consist of the zoo’s logo, many photos and text. Photos are already in the zoo archives, in both digital and print form, so there will be minimal cost or effort involved with those. Timmy is an excellent photographer, so editing will be at a minimum also. The question of who will write the text has brought different responses: Timmy offered, but admits he is not a very talented writer; Art pointed out that they have a great corps of volunteers, some of whom write very well. Volunteers will serve very well to keep the budget under control!

The one area that will need money and effort is the updating of the zoo’s logo. PPPZ has offered to come up with a new design as part of the website contract package, and Art and Timmy have agreed. They cannot afford a new sign, so the logo update will still need to incorporate the sign in some way.

Art and Timmy have indicated that they have a limited budget of only about $5,000 to spend on the entire project, and Timmy would prefer to pay in monthly installments, or as project goals are met. Given the simplicity of the site, its relatively small size, the easy availability of high quality images, and the volunteer force for text production, we should be able to stay within this budget. This does not address the next issue, however, which is Maintenance.

Maintenance

Design by Five will be responsible for ongoing META tag and keyword updates, and search engine submissions, on a monthly basis.

Due to the seasonal nature of the zoo’s business, as well as the many Special Events planned during the operating season, parts of the Precious Primates Petting Zoo website will need to be updated only when the season has ended and a new events calendar needs to be posted. Art would like to see a review page of each special event, as soon as it has happened; he sees this as an exciting tool to bring visitors both to the website and to the zoo for the next Special Event. Art and Timmy both concur that other parts of the site will need to be updated as often as weekly, as events in the day-to-day operation of the zoo or animals’ lives unfold. For instance, if the website is tracking a monkey’s pregnancy, as the projected delivery date draws closer, there will be more details about her condition to post.

Neither of the men presently sees the necessity to do any other updates than the ones mentioned above, so no major work would be scheduled. However, the Special Events Review page is already in addition to the original five listed by Art and Timmy; with the wealth of information offered by a zoo, there could be many more. However, this will be classified as “further development” rather than “maintenance”, for contract purposes.

Contacts

Mailing Address:

Precious Primates Petting Zoo
W2124 Dundas Rd.
Dundas, WI 54130

Art Vandalay – Primary contact

Business Manager
800/666-5397 (800/MON-KEYS)
monkeydude@aol.com

Timothy (Timmy) Frude

Zoo Operations Manager
262/774-6283 (262/PRI-MATE)
tfrude@aol.com

Company fax number:

262/774-6284

Client Survey Results -
Art Vandalay(Word Document) Timmy Frude (Word Document)

Precious Primates believes their target audience will be parents, grandparents and schools with younger children. According to the zoo’s records most business comes from families and schools with children between the ages of 2-12.  Most of their visitors are from Eastern Wisconsin and use the zoo between the months of April and October, but they would like to expand that into the winter months since they have added the indoor petting area.  They also feel that many of the visitors between the months of June and August are vacationers to Eastern Wisconsin that are looking for activities to do with their children and grandchildren.  They also plan to add monthly features, such as “Easter with the Animals” and other related themes to attract business.  Art feels that the zoo is a fun and educational place to take children and should be a place for families to be able to spend quality time together.

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